PASCO — The early morning fog burned off and the sun burst through, almost on cue, as the state’s elite distance runners gathered at Sun Willow Golf Course in Pasco on Saturday.

The Class 2A boys race included the usual list of suspects, Silas Griffin from Ridgefield, Josh Rauvola from Archbishop Murphy, the Central Washington Athletic Conference guys Ethan Green of Ephrata and Nate Jensvold from Ellensburg.

Green ran his best race of the season, finishing fourth in a race where the top four runners were separated by just 14 seconds. Griffith won the Class 2A race in 15 minutes, 47.50 seconds. Rauvola (15:55.50) was second, James Parker (15:59.70) of Anacortes was third and Green was fourth in the 157-runner field with a time of 16:02.70.

“I was just going by feel. I wanted to be comfortable and maintain my position in the first mile,” the Tiger senior explained. “Silas was in front the whole time. I didn’t pay attention to where it was, I just went when he did.”

Three of the top four came in under 16 minutes. Green was right there on the rolling terrain of Sun Willows, which was a bit wet from the early morning dew.

“They kicked me at the end. I was gassed,” Green said. “I was afraid Nate Jensvold might creep up on me, but he didn’t. I didn’t come in with a certain time in mind. I just wanted to run fast one more time.”

Green’s effort earned him a place on Team Washington, which will compete with top cross country runners from Oregon in the 18th annual Nike Border Clash on Nov. 20 at the Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Ore.

“I have one more. I’ve been working to make the Border Clash team for a long time and now I have,” Green said.

Yacine Guermali of Camas set a blistering pace in the 4A boys race, defeating the field of 162 runners with a time of 15:12.70. The Moses Lake guys put forth quality efforts. Zack Owens (17:13.20) finished 114th in his first state meet. Senior Zak Bishop wrapped up his high school career (17:13.20), finishing 124th. Joshua Cooper (17:40.80) was 141st overall.

“I was able to make sure I wasn’t boxed in early,” Owens said. “In the middle of the race, I focused on my form and tried to run as efficient as I could and not waste energy. I was pleased today, but there’s always room for improvement.”

Bishop said he was a little surprised with the tenacity of the Washington state meet compared to previous meets he’d run in Idaho.

“There was a lot more elbows and cleats today,” he said. “I didn’t come here thinking I was going to win. I just wanted to run hard and enjoy my last high school cross country meet.”

Cooper was also running his first state meet.

“I settled into my race in the first mile and started recovering from an elbow to the gut early on,” he said. “Moses Lake has only had two individuals run this race in the past 30 years, so I feel like we represented our school well and showed people Moses Lake is back in the game.”

Taylor Roe from Lake Stevens repeated as the girls 4A champion, defeating the field in 17:34.10. Moses Lake freshman Carlie Gregg got boxed in the early stages in the 162-girl field, which took her out of her race strategy, she said.

“I think I need to start out a little faster next time so I don’t get boxed in,” said the Chiefs freshman, who finished 125th. “There was a lot of people and sometimes it’s hard not to get overwhelmed. But I learned a lot from this.”

Rodolfo Flores (17:05.90) and Victor Santillan (17:50.80) led the Royal boys to a 13th place team finish in the 1A meet. The Knights scored 297 as a team. Flores and Santillan were 31st and 69th, respectively.

“The first mile was about going with the flow. I started to pick it up by the mile,” Flores said. “This was a pretty fast field, but I felt pretty good.”

Said Santillan, “When you get boxed, you tend to get tired faster trying to work your way out,” he said. “It was hard to get some room, but I definitely feel I like ran well today.”

Bryn Heikes, Quincy (20:20.70) placed 45th in the girls 2A race and Karen Bilingsley, Ephrata (20:24.30) was 48th.

“It was really foggy when I ran. I tried to stay with the lead pack for as long as I could, but it was really fast,” Bilingsley said. “I didn’t do terrible, but I feel I can always do better.”

Gracelynne Miller, Royal (21:09.00) led the Knights in the 1A girls race, finishing 60th overall.